Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Seeking input - possibily gifted? ADD? or????

It was a group test that took a little over 2 hours and was administered by the school district. He attends a charter school, so I had to pay for it. I have been told by a neuropsychologist (she is a sister of a friend) that he may be better off getting IQ tested.


Excellent suggestions! I'm going to be loading up the tablet with books! I think his biggest issue is lack of interest. He has an excellent memory but forgets things he doesn't like i.e., his spelling book on Mondays (he does an entire week of spelling homework in one night due to this issue).

I wouldn't be able to pinpoint his characteristics into all of these but have noted most. I find it interesting that late bloomer is a characteristic of having a learning disability. He's in the 3rd percentile for height and weight and just found out through a bone age test that he's a late bloomer by almost 3 years! He's in the 50th percentile of 6 year olds and his bone age is 6.

Sorry - this is a bit OT and I have nothing of value for the OP, but I did want to say thank you to aculady. I have been thinking of myself as a visual spatial learner when in fact almost all my 'symptoms' are those marked as potential learning difficulties. I will follow this up further as dd is showing similar signs to me. I might PM you when I have chance to get your feedback on the kinds of LDs they relate to. Thanks again!

Many visual spatial learners (or right-brain thinkers) have ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's or other learning disabilities - both Dr. Linda Silverman and Dr. Deirdre Lovecky spell them out in their books and websites.

Many gifted children are visual spatial learners AND have ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's, or other LDs. BUT not all.

BUT - not everyone who is vsl has ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's, or LDs. Divergent thinking doesn't necessarily mean you have these diagnoses either.

A late bloomer doesn't mean you've got a ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's, or a LD either.

Characteristics of giftedness are similar to those of ADHD and can cause gifted children to be misdiagnosed. Yet there are also many gifted children with undiagnosed ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's, or LD.

The intensity, drive, perfectionism, curiosity, and impatience commonly seen in gifted children may be mistaken for indicators of ADHD.

Parents need someone who is an expert with both giftedness and ADHD, Asperger's, and LDs to confirm what's going on. A diagnosis should be made after a series of visits and evaluations - not merely on a checklist/s or one test.

The problem for some vsls is that schools tend to be aimed at the auditory, sequential, linear type of learning. It's usually quite structured with a teacher-driven curriculum and based on rote memorization and the drill and kill approach. If you have a creative child who is intrinsically motivated and more self-directed in their learning, they can resist the latter type of environment and learning.

Ironically, if you've read or hear anything by Daniel Pink, Tom West, Dr. Ken Robinson, or others, you'll see arguments for more creativity and visual spatial skills and thinking in the schools for the 21st Century. And the kids who are creative and have the visual spatial skills more naturally tend to be the ones with ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's, or other LDs.

DD6 is a classic V/S learner. Her RIAS scores exposed that, where she was in the 92nd percentile for the verbal section and 99.69th percentile for non-verbal.

Some of her giveaways that aren't on the aculady-corrected (well done!) list:

- She responds strongly to pictures when we introduce a new concept, and she wants to see more.
- Often when she's telling a story, she feels the need to re-enact it with stuffed animals.
- She uses visual terms when describing the learning process ("Do you see?", etc.).

And because I'm a V/S type myself, here are some of my giveaways:

- Tell me your name, and if it's a common one, I can probably remember it if I put in an effort, but I won't be sure of myself. If it's an unusual one, I've already forgotten it. But if I see it written down, I'll remember it forever.
- I've demonstrated a strong ability at learning foreign languages, but the immersion method (ie. Rosetta Stone) is a waste of my time and money.
- I know maps were mentioned on the list, but it bears expanding. Verbal directions are the quickest way to get me lost. Let me look at it on a map, though, and not only will the trip go smoothly, but I'll even be able to smoothly adjust in the unlikely event that we miss a turn.

I'm exactly the same way! I also cannot do math in my head. Everything has to be written down. I was helping DS study for a science test the other night and was telling him he needs to write down his vocabulary to help him remember it. He actually didn't need to do that at all; he already knew it. I HAD to write down everything. But, I graduated with honors from both high school and college. You do what you have to do. My step-father put me in a very small private school after struggling in a public school. My academics wasn't the reason for the move; it was more for the fact we were zoned for a very poor district. But I thrived in that kind of environment (very small class).

I can do math in my head, but first I have to convert the problem into a mental image. I do the same thing with language... that's why I've already forgotten an unusual name the moment it's been said, because I can't "picture it." That's also why immersion language software is a failure for me.

I didn't need to write everything down in school, but once I went on to higher learning, I found myself taking notes for the first time, and what I noticed is that I usually didn't need to refer back to notes... the simple act of writing it down had cemented the information in my mind. So there's another giveaway.

Also, whenever we're having meetings to discuss system design (I'm in IT), I'm known as the guy who invariably ends up on the white board to draw out my ideas.